Coal-loading machine



Nov. 18, 1930. G, M. CRAWFORD ET AL 1,781,395

COAL LOADING MACHINE Filed June 21 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 18, 1930. G. M. CRAWFORD ET AL COAL LOADING MACHINE Filed June 21, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 2' INVENTORS NOV. 1930- ca. M. CRAWFORD ET AL 1,781,895

COAL LOADING MACHINE File'd June,2l 192 5 Sheets-Sheet Z INVENTORS NOV. 1 s. M. CRAW'FORD ET AL 1,781,395

COAL LOADING MACHINE Filed June 2i, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Z? 34M 6 &%

Nov. 18, 1930. G. M. CRAWFORD ET AL 5 GOAL LOADING MACHI NE Filed June. 21, 92 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 c l atented Nov. 18,1930

is' due to the fact that the rooms must neces- TE i STATES GEORGE monaWronn, or INGOMAB, AND JACOB in. LONDON,

' VANIA' COAL-LOADING MACHINE Applicationcfiled June 21,

This invention'relates to loading" ina- '1 chines, and more particularly loaing machines for use in mines such as coal mines, where the available space is relatively lim-. ited. i

In the mining of coal,or other mineral substances, in underground mines by what is known as the room and pillar system o1 mining, there is ordinarily provided a main heading and at regularintervals from this heading rooms are advanced laterally. When aroom hasbeen advanced to .a prederooms is removed, the portion of the block a mostremote from the heading first being taken away, the retreat" from the room being efiected by working toward "the heading. One difficulty in such a. method of mining sarily be relatively narrow, and there must be a great many posts for holding up the roof, so that it is diflicult tox provide for the carriage of coal from the Working face in the room down to the main'heading. It

has been proposed to provide loading ma chines in the rooms by meansof which the coal which has been shotdo-wn can be loaded at the working face and conveyed down-to themainheading. Since the cars must he brought successively beneath the loading ma chine, and since thereican be only one'track:

ing machine is'notobtained.

in a room, only one car can be loaded at a time. This means that where the room has] been advanced to the maximum depth of" 300 feetthat a single car must be pnshe'd'the Whole length of theroom to the loading machine,then pushed downto the 'main head ing, and then anothercar mustbe pushed to a quently the 'maximiun efliciency of the loadis encountered,

Another difficulty which I with the use of present types of loading machines resides in the fact that they can notoperate over a sufficient area meme between the end of the t'rackway in thereon and'theremote points ofthe workingiace ily understood by reference to the accoin "pan'ying drawings which illustrate a prei ferred embodiment of the invention, :but

construction and arrangement of parts thereposition in a mine;

I the clutch expanding wedges; y Figure 5 1s a front elevation'of the mathine' 19 2c, Serial No. 117,24

whereby the coal my be continuon'sly gath- 'ered at the working face. of the; room and j continuously conveyed to cars or other receiving means in theheading.

Another important object ofthe, invention j is to provide a 'loadingmachine of improved construction whichi is capable'of gathering or BUTLER, rENnsYL- coal alongan. entire Working face of the room so that itQneed not necessarily be shift- Q ed about from pointto point, it being ore rearward as the retreat is effected. a

A further object ofthe inventionis'to provide an improvement in the generaltype of machine shown in- Patent No. 1,445,332,

don. L V The nature of the invention may be readwe do not limit, ourselves tothe particular in disclosedg f r In-the, drawings:

'dinarily necessary only to move the machine forward asthe room advances and to moveit f 7' dated February 13,1923, to acob'M. Lon

15" gure 1 'isa top plan View illustratingthe i loader: and its conveying meansin operative Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the mainportionof the machine, parts of the top cover being broken away to better illustrate the mechanism of the'inachine;

Figure 3-is a detail view illustrating a section taken in the plane of line III"III 01. l lgure 2, showing a face view of one ofthe clutches for one-of the drums ofthe machine;

Fi ure l is a detail view showing one of sliown'in Figure 2,; v c c 7 F gure 6 1s a detail plan viewof the connection between the loading arm and supporting arm of the machine;

the casin being shown in section- 1 a a t I I Figure 9 IS a partial transverse section in the plane of line XX of Figure 2;

Figure 10 is a transverse section through i the portion. of the conveyerimmediately back of the loading machine, this section being in the plane of line XX of Figure 2;

Figure 11 is a detail plan view of the outer terminal of the loading arm Figure 12 is transverse section in the plane of line Xll Xll of Figure 11;

Figure 13 is a side elevation of that portion of the loading arm shown inFigure 12;

Figure 14: is a transverse section illustrating in detail the scraper and its slidable support on the loading arm;

Figure 15 is a transverse section through one of the scrapers in the plane of line XVXV of Figure 14; I

Figure 16 is a side elevation of the outer "terminal of the loading arm;

Figure 17 shows an extension sectionfor the loading arm of the machine.

In the drawings, 2 designates a. box-like casing wlnch preferably has a-bottom plate '3, asectional top 4, and suitably arranged side walls. The bottom plate3 has an extension 3 at the forward end thereofwhich projects well'beyond the forward end of the casing or housing, and secured to this extension is a semi-circular rail. section 5. Mounted to slide on the rail 5is a shoe 6 which fits around the rail and which "is best shown in prised of a single length of I-beam but is pref-- erably made up of sections, such as the sec-.

Figure 7. This shoe may be releasably secured in any given position by one or more bolts 7 which may pass therethrou'gh. and

pass through the 'Web of the curved rail sectiono. The shoe supports a loadingarm 8 which may be of any suitable shape, but

which is preferablymade of I-beam laidihorizontally. The loading arm may becomtion Sflshownin Figure 17, thesesections being secured together by the connecting By using as many sections 8 as desired, the

length of the loading arm can be'varied to suit all necessary conditions As shown in Figure 7, rollers 10 provided in the shoe 6 for supporting the :loading arm to enable it'to be slid back and V forth in the shoe when necessary, and to prevent such sliding movement vvhen'it is not desired, clamping bolts 11 maybe provided in the shoe, these bolts having hooked ends .which engage under theloading arm flanges,

stood by those'ski-lled in the art.

ay e as shown in Figure 7. By adjustment of the nuts on the bolts 11 the loading arm can be clamped to prevent longitudinal movement thereof. In the ordinary operation of the machine the loading arm is clamped in a given position and it will only be adjusted from time to time as conditions require.

' Connected with the shoe 6 is a vertical post 12 having a rearwardly extending portion 13 that is pivotally secured tothe top of the cas--.

ing at 14. This post serves as a supporting brace for the shoe and permits the shoe to be slid'arouiid on the rail 5 as required.

The outer terminal of the loading arm, shown in detail in Figure 11, is preferably supported on a swiveled caster 15. At intervals along its length the supporting arm may have supporting shoesthereon to prevent it from'sagging. These supporting shoes are clearly shown in Figures 12 and 13 and comprise clamps slidable along one flange of the I-beam section of the arm. Depending from these clamps, designated 16, is a post 17 having a shoe -18;which is preferably convened be clamped in position by means of anad-i underusting screw. 19, as will'be readily Slidable' along the loading arm are one" or more shoes 20 whichare guided on the I- beam section of the arm by one of the flanges thereof, a-ndwhich are retained in place by one of the flanges of. the I-beam. We have.

illustrated'three of these'shoes 20. Each of these shoes carries a scraper or gathering scoop 21. The scrapers 21 are pivotally secured to theshoes20 by the pins 22, and on the back of each shovel there is preferably provided a heel 23. As thus arranged the scrapers can swing in against the loading arm when they are moving in one direction, see for instance the dotted line position of one of I the scoops in Figure 11, while the heel 23 prevents the scoops from swinging back too far in the other direction. When the shoes,

20 are pulled toward the machine, sliding along the loading arms, the scoops 21 engage the loose coal'and the resistance of the coal causes the scoops to open outto the maximum lifi extent. permitted by their respective heels. 7

the machine, the backs of the scoops engage the coal and the scoopsswing in'against the loading arm so'that' they ride past the coal.

In this way they function, upon reciproca tion of the shoes along the loading arm, to

always scrape coal'toward the loading machine.

In Figure 1l.we have shown the" scoops as being relatively close together, but

as a matter of practice they may be so distributed along the loading arm that one scoop will deliver its charge of coal into the path of travel of the next succeeding scoop toward the machine, the last scoop toward the ma-J chine only taking the coal into the loading machine. As thusarranged the scoops do not need to'travel such a great distance along the arm, For instance, with a loading arm 30 feet long the scoops could be distributed at 7 regular intervals so that they would not have to feet. v s

By having the scoops close togethenas shown in Figure' 11, the operator can control the movement of the scoops, letting them travel back and forth more than 10 travel a long or, short distance, as required," ThlS has many advantages, in that loose coal close to the machine may first be loaded, and the shovels caused to progressively bring in coal more remote from the machine. The distribution of the shovels may therefOrbe such asYto suit the'particular conditions of their use. tributed. V v

According tothe present invention, means is sprovide dffor reciprocating the scoops back" and-forth along the loading arm. Other means is provided for receiving the; coalwhich is scraped to the machine by the scoops,

andother' means is provided for conveying the coalth us received in the machineto the main heading 1n the mine or to any other,

suitable point ofdischarge. I

To this end we'providea motor in the casing. Through'a reducing gear 26 this motor drives a shaft 27. The shaft 27- is geared through a sprocket chain 28 with a second shaft 29. When the motor 25 is operat i ng; shafts 27 land 29 are continuously driven, Loose-on the-shaft 27 is a drum 30 and loosefo'n the shaft29 isadrum 3l. Each of the, drums is preferably flanged, and with-- the flange is a disc 32 which is keyed to theshaft on which it is carried.-v The disc 32 is of smaller diameter than the interior ot the flanged portion vof-the drum, and in- "ternosed between-the periphery of thedisc 32 and the inside of thefflange of the drun isa split ring 33' which "may be-expandedby wedges 341. The wedges. of the drum 30 are operated by a systemof toggle levers 35 and I theyedges for the drum 31 is operated through'asystem of toggle levers 36. Both systems of toggle" levers :35 and 36 are conn'cted'with a double crankj37 on a vertical ,shaft 38. The vertical shaft 38 1s adaptcdto receive an operating lever not shown.

rotation of the. vertical, shaft 138 in fop posite directions the wedges ofthe respectivejclutches can be alternately movedto operative position while the clutch of the other "drum is released By adjusting the shaft 38 in a neutral position both drumsean be dis: engaged from their respective dr ving shafts.

'While'we have described a particular-form i-of. clutch e l m it li t pe Figure 1 shows the scoops dis;

avail ble in a machine, of his kind, any o her a suitable form of clutch. could be provided or a rna e y c nnec ing h d um with,

[their-respective driving shafts. It isprefen q able that these clutches be under the centrq f 1 i a s n e op ng andl o I t at 'aatno.

time; will -it be possible .to have both clutches i operative position at thes'ame time.-- 1- Reeled about the drum 30 is a cable which is guided over sheave l lo-a ldfiheavefll en he h aye 2I tt-h t p Qf-the p stle; cable 3 P s s wn -th Pes a o r:

guiding sheavesfl3- and 44ro1 1t-along the load{ ing arm. At the outer end of the loading arm the cable 39ypasses around a guiding sheave 45 andzconnects to the outermost shoe 20 of the series at 46. This shoe is connected.

of. cable 4L7, I andthisintermediate shoeis in turn connected withtheifirst shoe ofthe se ries' through a cab-le section 41,8.

Beau about the "other drum;31{isa sc edi leig with the next adjacent shoe through a section i 49 Y which. 1 passes from a, guiding; sheave 5Q.

to the loading arm. .iIt extends-along the loading arm and connects a twith the r wardmost shoe 20 o'n the loading arms From the foregoingaitawill be seen thatib-y alternately operating the clutches to alter ,natelyjoperate therespective drums3O and I 31, the, cables 39 311149 may bealternately drlvenand'release d.to pull the seriesofscrapi v ers back, and forth: along the loading arm, thereby providing. a simple drive 7 for 'rejcip;

around a-pulley 51 that issupportedona stud 52 on the extension plate 3iof the zbot i. tom of the machine. This cable 49, after passing around the pulley-51 is guided by;--'

pulleys 53 and 54 to asheave'55 attheinner; I end of the arm 13. gIt' passes from this; sheave, l to sheave 56 at. the top ofthe posti1 2i andisr guideddown the post andaround sheavestfj 1 rocating the' scrapers. :Thecables are flex ible to adjust 'themselves to any angle to tio'ns may require Y which the loading 'armjis set, and permit oi} the ready extension or contraction of the effective lengthrof the loading arm, as-cond-i V On'ithe stud'52 secured to plate. 'is jthe i I hub 61 of a large disc 62 which ispreferably I 'inclined'for iwardly to afslight extent. ."Se-

cured to this hubf62is a disc 63. The pulleyf 51 is concentricallysupportedabout the disc 63 and has an internal ratchet 64 with which pawls 65 onthe disc 63 cooperate.

7 scoops scrap the coal up to the outer edge of this plate, and succeeding operation of the" scoops pushes the accumulation of 'coalup the plate 66 on tothe intermittently revolving} disc 62. The coal,falling on to the disc 62 is carried around on the discand it is discharged into'the conveyer designated generally as 68. A plate-69 serves to force the coal from the disc into the conveyer. V "1 The conveyer must necessarily be of a type which can be readily made upin sections-and which can beextended and contracted with the advancing'and retreating operations in the mine. I have illustrated in a general iway such a conveyer, and the conveyer per se constitutes the subject matter of our copending application, Serial No. 117,247, filed June 3 21st, 1926. r

According to the preferred form of con- ;veyer, there is provided a'horizontal I-beam 70 which is made of sections, the length of the I-beam 70 determines the length of the sectioni This I-beam has secured to its bottom a plate 71, see Figure 10, and an outer I flange 72. Slidable on the I-beam 70 at inter vals are shoes 73, and secured to these shoes is an angle bar 74. Theangle bar 7 supports a plate and extending out from this" plate at-regular intervals arefiights 76;

1;These'fiights,'as maybe seen in Figure 8, are

' inclined in one'direction and have an abrupt vertical shoulder. The inclined surface is designated 7 6 and the vertical shoulder is designated '76". Since theishoes 7 3 are slidable on the stationary I-beanis70, the plate 7 5 with its flights 76 may be reciprocated back and forth a distance correspondingto the distance between flights. On the back stroke of the angle bar 74' the inclines will ride un- ;der the coal, and on the forward stroke the vertical shoulders 76 will advance the coal," Thus a step by step forward movement-of the.

coal is obtained; The coal is confined be% wfigether, as more specificallydescribed in our copending application above referred to.

adjacent the point of discharge for the disc 3 :63, on the shaft 29 is a arm- 77.; on the outer face of the drum 77 is an eccentric pin 78 and th s pin connectswlthone end of a connecting rod 7 9. The otherend'of the con? 5 necting'rod 79 is pivot-ally connected'at 8O with a connecting block 8l'which is slidable on the I-beam 70. "This'connecting block cor.- responding to ene'of the shoes73.

From the foregoing it will be seen that with the rotation of the shaft29'a reciprocal .movementaof'the conveyerwill be obtained" moved froni' its supporting; shoe whenever} this is desired and reversed, in whlch case the scraper shoes are entirely removed from the arm and reversed thereon. The arm can also extend from either side of the machine. When the arm is adjusted to a given angle the plate 66 can be moved around to'the necessary angle to receive the coal. The loading arm is therefore capable of working along any part of a working face n any mine; In

the usual practice the arm will ordinarily'extend always from the same side of the machine so that the changing about of the arm is not' frequently necessary. The arrangement herein provided, however, will permit of this changing about very quickly and easi-' ly," By reason of the 'fact'that the arm is made in sections, it can be extended to the greatest extent necessary for vpractical purposes.

When the arm has beenset to the desired: 'pos'itionthe motor 25 is operated, and the machine operator controls the operation of the drumsthrough a lever connected with the shaft 38. By manipulation of this lever he can cause the scrapers to be rapidly moved back andforth along the loading arm. As the coal is gathered in, the angle of the arm can be gradually changed. so that substan- 'tially all of the coal canjbecollected. As the coal is scraped towardthe machine it accumulates at the machine and is forced up the plate 66, falling on to the intermittently revolving disc 62. I From the disc it is forced or pushed from the disc into the forward- 'most end of the conveyer. The conveyeris operated continuously and by reason thereof j the coal'is carried back along as rapidly as it 1s gathered,

The drum 77 can b'e effectively used as a plies over the mine floor, and for dragging the machine about when one end of a rope at p tached to the drum has its other endsecured v The conveyer extends forwardalong one; side of the housing to a point immediately positions which the loading armmay operate," and the rapidity with which the coal. may be gathered and conveyed to the heading of. a

the conveyer llO winch for pulling postsffor hauling supmine, or other point of discharge, but thema chine can be built cheaply and rugged-1y;

The'conveyer sections canbe readily added i between the machine and the next adjacent conveyer section .wheneverfthis is necessary 7 f and even more easily added by attachingthem at the discharge terminaliofithe conveyer "where there is usually plenty ofavailable {r am andthenz'slitlingfthe whole oonveyer forwardly. All ofthe parts are" compactly" arranged so that the machine will, very eifectively operate in low coa'l,'it being possible embodiment of our invention.

efliciently nse the machine in ai sea in'BO 'Byfdrivmg ccnveye'raz I l that'the 'coalcan'be carried away as rapidly as it isgatheredand no other power plant. is necessary. in. the. 110011 for operating Another'important advantage of the machine arises from the adaptability of the machine to the operation of theretreating from a room as Well as in the operation of advancing- .By reason of the fact that the scoops can operate oneither side of the arm, they can collect the coalon any face at any angle. This not only makes the machine extremely adaptable to ordinary room and pillar systems of mines, but enables it tobe just as conveniently used with other systems, notably certain long well systems and room and pillar systems having angular or V-shaped faces.

WVh ile the machine is also particularly adaptable to a system where a machine is used with a conveyer in such manner that it will ordinarily not shift around in the mine to any considerable extent, it can be wheeled or carried on tractors in a manner common to other machines, such as that shown inour patent hereinbefore .mentioned. Any feacorporated in the present machine. I In the foregoing we have described the machine in connection with a room and pillar system of mining, but it will be obviousthat the use of the machine is not confined to any particular system of mining. It Will also be understood that various changes and modlfications may be made in the construction of the machine within the spirit ofour invention and under the scope of the appended claims, the drawings merely illustrating one We claim: 1. A loading machine including a machine frame, a loading arm carried thereby, a scraper movable along the arm, areceiving disc for receiving material fromthe loading arm means, and a conveyer associated with the machine to which the receiving disc de- II I II I I I I including, a machine frame, an-arcuatel-y ad-' arm, a revoluble receivin'g discat the forward H end of the machine frame, and a conveyor for recelving materlal from the disc. I

3. A loading machine lncludlng a supporting disc.

frame, a loading adjustably carrie d thereon, ascraper. reciprocal along the arm,

means for drivingthe scraper, a revolving re- 7 I with the machine I and terminating acent means from a commoi'i'motor,

the receiving disc.

ing'frame, a loading arm'adjustably carried thereon, a scraperreciprocalalong the arm, means for driving-thescraper, 'arevolving receiving disc to which the reciprocal'scraper delivers, and areciprocal'conveyerlassociated i with the machine and: terminating adjacent I the" receiving disc, said reciprocatingrfoonve'yereingoperatively connected. the

driving means for the scraper.

5.- In loading 'machi'ne or the class described, a machinexbodyna loading arm ad i i' Carried reby, "wscr'aper slidably guidedalongthe arm, cables for movingjt'he-L; scra'p'erm opposltedirectionsalong-thearm, r

alternately operable drums to-which the said cable'sare- -connected, F a ,rotatable receiving disc to Whlffilltlfle scraper delivers, and a con-' veye-r for receiving material from the receiv- '6; A'loading machine of thecla'ssdescribed including a machine frame, a loading arm arcuately movable about onev end of-i.the

frame, a scraper reciprocal along the arm, I

from" the scraper.

and: a rotating disc "for "receiving material I ;means on theframe for operating. the scraper, 1 tures shown in our said. patent, as well as the tractor attachment for the loading arm shown in patent of J. M. London, N0. 1 1,615,640, dated January 25, 1927, may be inincluding a machine" frame, an arm angu-f 8. Al'oading machine of th' class described larly adjustable rwith 're spect to the frame and located at the forward end the'reof,.'a scraper movable along the arm, meanson'the I frame for reciprocating the scraper, anew receiving discjoperatively disposed at the 1 fr'ont'of the machine frame for receiving mafterial g'athered bythe saidyscraper. r

movable along the armjfmeans on the framei'forreciprocating the. scraper, and-a receiving [disc operatively disposedat the front ofthe' "machine framei'for receiving inat erial gath- .er'ed by the said scraper, a conveyer terminating beneath the disc, and means for forcing material from the disc into the conveyor.

1 9. A leadin m'ac'hine ofthe class described "1 just-able supporting shoe at the forward end of the frame, a loading arm adjustably 'carriedi'n thesupporting shoe,"a scrapermovgrid . sheaves for the cables. lO; A.

I l oa cling machine of the class de scrlbed'includinga machine frame,aa supe water orting member at the forward end of the. receiving disc, of a conveyer connected; with rame, a loading arm slidably received in the the machine and extending rearwardly supporting member, clampingmeans on the thereof, the conveyer being positionedto .re-

supporting member for holding the arm in ceive material from the disc, said conveyer adjusted position, a scraper. slidable along y bemg in sections whereby it may be extended 70 the arm,operating means on the frame and or constructed according to the position-of" 1 cables connecting the operating means with the loading machine, and a common driving the scraper. means for the machine and the conveyer.

1 A l ding machine of the class .de- In testimony whereof we have hereunto set scribed including a machine frame, a receivour hands. y 775 ing disc'rota tably mounted at the front of GEORGE M. CRAWFORD.

" the frame, means for drivingthe disc, and a L 1 1 J O 1, ON-

loading iarm concentrically adjustable about c v 1 the disc for delivering material thereto. 7 Y 7 r g g g 12.1 A loading machine of the class vde- I a I fscribed, a machine frame, a receiving disc i at the forward end of the frame, a loading a 7 arm at the forward-endof the frame, a-scraper I I I 10.Y21bl6 along the arm, and driving means 7 r v I it, ,7 on the frame for operating the. disc and the I 1 5 scraper. y

. 13. A loading machine including a machine frame, a receiving disc at the forward end of Y I Y theiframe, a supporting element arcuately I p 251jadju stable abouttheperiphery of the-recciv- 7' 3 g e r g 5 0 ing disc, a loading arm carried bythe supporting element, a reciprocal scraperon the arm, andoperating means for the disc and .-,thescraper. V f v g p 7 20} 145A loadingmachine including a ma- I I V '95. chine frame, a receiving disc at the forward end of the frame, a supporting element arcuately adjustable about, the periphery of the receiving'disda loading arm carried by the g H i y 'zsf supporting element,.areciprocalscraper on j. 1 100 .the arm, cables for operating the scraper,

driving'means for the cables, and a driving .connectionvbetween one of tl'iecables' and g "the receiving 'discfor rotating the latterupon 4o. operation of the scraper. H y, A 15. A loading machine including a machine a frame, a receiving disc-at the forward end of the frame, a supporting element arcuately 1 adjustable about the periphery of the'receiv- V ingdisc,aloading arm carriedbythesupporti r r 110 element, a reciprocal scraper on*the arm, I

cables for operating the scraper, driving inea'ns for the cables, and adriving connec-' non between one ofthe cables and the ,rep c p 4 5o ceiving disc for rotatingthe latter upon, j 1 1 V "115 operation of the scraper,and acontin'uously lriven conveyer for receiving material from 'thedisc. r

l6. Thecombination'with a loading ma- I a I g n 1 chine having a receiving disc at its forward j f 120 end and having a gathering arm with a reciprocal scraperthereon forv delivering to the receiving disc, of a conveyer connected with the machine and extending rearwardlyitherev, V I I g of, saidconveyer being positioned to receive v r l2 i material from the disc. T

17. The combination with a loading machine having a receiving disc at its forward end and having a gathering arm with a re- I V ciprocal scraper thereon for delivering to-the V e r V 1 130 

